Along with Friday the 13th it was A Nightmare on Elm Street that was the other wildly successful horror franchise. The brainchild of horror maestro Wes Craven he had made a name for himself in the 1970’s with shockers Last House on the Left and The Hills have Eyes but the early 1980’s were not so kind and he had restricted to making his first sequel with a follow up to The Hills have Eyes that was largely ignored by audiences. But released the same year was the film where Craven hit pay dirt. Freddy Krueger was a heavily disfigured child molester burnt alive by parents and now haunting the dreams of the children of those parents who killed him using a metal bladed glove. But the killer concept was that to avoid him the teenagers had to stay awake, an impossibility that saw them slaughtered in a series of shocking blood drenched set pieces none more so than one victim, Johnny Depp in his feature film debut, dragged in to the depth of his mattress only to emerge as gallons of blood shooting everywhere. Audiences loved it to the tune of $25m that saved New Line studios from going under and created an icon of modern horror.
From there on sequels were quickly made with the first sequel Freddy’s Revenge appearing the following year making $30m only this time Craven stepped back from directing to write the follow up. Far less well regarded it would be two years before the third film Dream Warriors would appear that saw Chuck Russell take the helm and it was from here that the franchise began its penchant for black humour and really enter into pop culture with dolls, gloves, hats striped jumper merchandise appear in time for Halloween and was further underlined by rap group The Fat Boys hit, ‘Are you ready for Freddy?’ for which Craven would direct the video. It was a gamble to veer from the visceral horror template of the first film but it worked earning $44m and the fourth film (directed by Renny Harlin) the following year would earn a franchise high of $49m.
From here the series went into decline with the fifth film earning a lowly $22m and a sixth film in 1991 did marginally better – probably because of the 3D gimmick ( this was in a pre-Avatar era and 3D glassed are included here) that prompted Wes Craven to return to the director’s chair for what would be the last true Elm Street film titled Wes Craven’s New Nightmare’ that saw Freddy stepping out of the celluloid and stalking actress Heather Langencamp who had appeared in the first film. It was a clever spin on the central concept but by 1994 when it was released audiences had moved on and the film made a franchise low of only $19m effectively ending the franchise albeit there was a TV series and an attempt to mash up horror icons with a Freddy v Jason movie that lasted for one film only, despite earning a huge $116m off a $30m budget, until a reboot in 2010 that failed to relaunch the franchise.
Craven attempted to invent another horror icon with his 1989 film Shocker but it didn’t connect with audiences like Freddy especially with Robert Krueger’s interpretation that remains beloved by fans.
Out now as a seven film collection on 4K UHD this is a terrific transfer with the improved resolution sharpening up the picture with deeper colours. Equally good are the bonus features that accompany each film and are as follows:
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
Special Features:
Ready Freddy Focus Points
Commentary with Wes Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Ronee Blakley, Robert Shaye, and Sara Risher
Commentary with Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and Jacques Haitkin
Alternate Endings – Scary Ending, Happy Ending, Freddy Ending
The House that Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror
Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street
Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares
– Plus a theatrical and uncut version of the film
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE
Special Features:
Freddy on 8th Street
Heroes and Villains
The Male Witch
Psychosexual Circus
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS
Special Features:
Behind the Story: Burnout
Behind the Story: Fan Mail
Behind the Story: The House that Freddy Built
Behind the Story: Onward Christian Soldiers
Behind the Story: Snakes and Ladders
Behind the Story: That’s Showbiz
Behind the Story: Trading 8’s
Dokken Dream Warriors Music Video
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER
Special Features:
The Finnish Line
Krueger, Freddy Krueger
Hopeless Chest
Let’s Makeup
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD
Special Features:
Behind the Story: Womb Raiders
Behind the Story: The Sticky Floor
Behind the Story: Take the Stairs
Behind the Story: Hopkins Directs
Behind the Story: A Slight Miscalculation
Includes an uncut version of the film plus 3D glasses
FREDDY’S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE
Special Features:
86’D
Hellraiser
Rachel’s Dream
3D Demise
WES CRAVEN’S NEW NIGHTMARE
Special Features:
Commentary with Wes Craven
NEW – Boiler Room Confessional
NEW – Freddy’s Footnotes
Becoming a Filmmaker
Filmmaker
An Insane Troupe
The Problem with Sequels
Two Worlds
Welcome to Prime Time: It Really Happened
Welcome to Prime Time: A Childhood Memory
Welcome to Prime Time: Sometime in the Early 80s
Welcome to Prime Time: So It Began
Welcome to Prime Time: Beauty and the Beast
Welcome to Prime Time: Making the Glove
Welcome to Prime Time: Shapeshifter
Welcome to Prime Time: The Shoot
Welcome to Prime Time: The Revolving Room
Welcome to Prime Time: All’s Well that Ends Well
Welcome to Prime Time: Talalay’s Tally
Welcome to Prime Time: It Couldn’t Have Happened
Welcome to Prime Time: Alternate Ending Version
Conclusion: Where Gothic Plots Come From
Conclusion: Why We Like Gothic
Conclusion: Sadomasochism
Conclusion: Freddy vs. Pinhead
Conclusion: Freddy’s Manic Energy
Conclusion: Creating Lasting Characters in Horror
Conclusion: No More Magic Tricks
Conclusion: Monster with Personality
Conclusion: Freddy as Sex Machine
Conclusion: Campfire Stories
The bonus features from the first and last film (both directed by Wes Craven) are the best in a franchise of variable quality. For fans of the franchise this is as good a box set as you’re likely to get and with Christmas round the corner makes an ideal gift as a Seasonal slasher.
related feature : ‘Making Monsters’- author Marshall Julius talks movie monsters, John Carpenter, Rick Baker & more!
related feature : The Hills Have Eyes – UHD BLU-RAY
Here’s the trailer for the original A Nightmare on Elm Street….
The post A Nightmare on Elm Street – 4K UHD | LIMITED EDITION SEVEN FILM COLLECTION appeared first on Any Good Films.
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